oOple Invernational Eleven

Hot on the heels of the 2011 IFMAR 10th off road World Championships - 'The Coolest Race Ever' - is this years 'oOple Invernational 2011' race - the second time we've run and it's got to be bigger and better. With many more entries than we actually had space for - the event was over subscribed from the outset. - Not to worry since this is an 'invitational' race and to be fair to everyone we try to keep a nice split between worthy drivers (through their driving abiliy) international drivers (pretty much anyone outside England) and average drivers (you and me!).

Many thanks to our sponsors for this event!

A few early birds turned up Thursday to help get things ready or just watch the activities - and there were lots. The big marquee tent for all the drivers to pit in was well underway by the time we turned up - so thanks to Rob Fox for that. Friday was open practice from mid-day officially - but there were cars on the track from around 10am.

Chris doughty and his boys from Team Durango came to test the new Team Durango DEX210 2WD buggy - the first time it's ever been seen or raced in public - so we're pretty happy they brought Hupo over from Austria to race this weekend with the new car at the Invernational!

With some last minute swapping around the 4WD was full by 7:45pm and a few 2WD spaces were spare.

Former european champion Chris Doughty takes his DEX210 around the RHR track in practice

The opening day wrapped up with practice still taking place (albeit slowly and only for a laugh) at 1am. DJ Kirky warmed up the evening with some mild low-volume tunes since the REAL party is the following day and he didn't want to peak too early.

Someone left their holey underpants on their pit table - we're not sure if they were being used for other purposes beyond their original specification or had been discarded due to unforseen circumstances. Either way the underpants were the butt (lol) of a few jokes before someone shouted to set them on fire - to which farm-boy Helliwell duly obliged in a firey show of mad antics. The still smOkin' pants were then worn for some photos before being put back on the poor chaps pit table. - Don't leave your underpants on show!

At around the same time Stuart Evans released one of his ghastly botty-trumps, which unfortuate James Helliwell was in the firing line of. James described the experience as being 'like bitten on the face by an angry ass-bee'.

Helliwell wears the now smoking underpants whilst anal pyrotechnics are performed.

Day 2 - Saturday 30th July 2011 - 2wd and 4wd Qualifying.

The day kicked off with a round of timed practice in heat order. Any last minute no-shows were dropped out of the system and replaced accordingly with willing individuals. Upon completion of practice drivers were invited to come face the rostrum for drivers briefing; it was anticipated that the turnout was approximately 143.5% greater than the average turnout to BRCA 1/10th offroad nationals drivers briefings. Even Hupo Honigl was observed hanging out in the crowd with the ruffians.

Graham North commenced the proceedings, and thanked everyone for attending this event. Graham went through all the boring stuff like explaining that the computer will be timing on automatic throughout the day and that no delays could be held during qualifying. About 13 minutes into this explanation most drivers had lost all focus and were witnessed picking their noses, falling asleep, and playing scrabble. Graham is well known amongst his peers for having "RC tourettes" and was having to try hard not to say f**k or b****r, but he did manage to say s**t twice :-(


Graham North was MC of the Briefing.	Farm-warrior Helliwell takes the mic.

James Helliwell, landowner, described the evenings entertainment and catering provision (Robin Hood branded ale!), and asked that everyone played safely throughout the event to reduce risk of injury to self, others, and property - which included coming in and pulling out of the venue.

Warrior Damo Whittle made mention of the Beer Race which much planning has gone into its creation, and drivers were invited to participate in the race this evening - more of that later in the report!

Stuart Evans thanked all the sponsors for supporting our event by donating raffle prizes. An awesome selection of goodie giveaways have been provided by Durango, Schumacher, CML, DMS, JConcepts, Number 5 Designs, SMD, HPI, JEspares, Rossmod, RClazy, Rudebits, AnswerRC, which will be dished out to all the drivers in a free raffle as a thanks for coming.
Stu also mentioned that Paul Worsley may be dropping in later with his digital calipers with which he would be accurately measuring each drivers apperatus. Anyone found to be outside the recommended measurements would be ejaculated from the meeting. There's a joke in there somewhere.

We spent some time talking to a variety of different drivers who were running products from each of our sponsors, and put together some driver profiles just for a laugh.

Name - Johnny Wishbone
Age – 34
Years racing experience – 1
Favourite Schumacher product – yellow mini spike tyres
How did you hear about oOple – graham north
What do you like most about the Invernational – relaxed atmosphere, organisation

Name – Mark Jarvis
Age - 33
Years racing experience – 7 (Just back after a 17 year break)
Favourite Durango product – Front wishbones are by far the strongest
How did you hear about oOple – Graham North when I first started back.
What do you like most about the Invernational – The mixture between a good laugh and some reasonably serious racing

Name – Andy Cottom
Age - 31
Years racing experience - 21
Favourite CML product – Powerpal 200 Charger
How did you hear about oOple – I was probably searching for internet porn and found oOple instead.
What do you like most about the Invernational - Atmosphere, marque, the Saturday evening, just everything that made the event a fun event with good racing. Sometimes the fun is missing from larger events or anything that involves a touring car!

Name – Chris Sutcliffe
Age - 24
Years racing experience - 6yr
Favourite product from Rossmod - cars
How did you hear about oOple – from racing
What do you like most about the Invernational -beer tent

Name – Laura Hinkley
Age - 11
Years racing expeience - 5
Favourite product from SMD – My 4wd car – LRP Blast.
How did you hear about oOple – My dad.
What do you like most about the Invernational – I like that it is fun.

Name – Stuart Wood
Age - 36
Years racing expeience - 15
Favourite product from Jespares - Ansmann X2c
How did you hear about oOple - I met the owner.
What do you like most about the Invernational - I'm not sure because I haven't been yet!

Name – Dan Greenwood
Age - 32
Years racing experience - 22
Favourite product from DMS – Vampire Racing Motors and Lipos
How did you hear about oOple – I've been there since the start ;) (Jimmy at Batley I think)
What do you like most about the Invernational – Competitive fun, one of the best atmospheres at a race meeting ever, only Belgium comes close.

Name – Simon Crabb
Age - 33
Years racing experience - 20
Favourite RClazy product – Lazy Balls
How did you hear about oOple – A crazy stickeroo on some car.
What do you like most about the Invernational – The lack of Serious.

Name - Graham blitzboy Smith
Age - 39
Years racing experience - 15
Favourite Jconcepts product – Spoked wheels
How did you hear about oOple – Through one of my local regional race meetings.
What do you like most about the Invernational – It's awesome and fun – and relaxing!

Name – Terry Atkinson
Age - 38
Years racing experience - 17
Favourite HPI product – 2wd prototype
How did you hear about oOple - friend
What do you like most about the Invernational – Its a fun event that results don’t seem to matter at.....which is good for me and my skills.

Name – Mike Parker
Age - 36
Years racing experience - 20+
Something to describe number 5 designs – Creative & friendly service
How did you hear about oOple – Batley BC members
What do you like most about the Invernational – The atmosphere & the folk

Name - Mark Townsend
Age - 38
Years racing experience - 24
Favourite Answer RC product – Orca V4 Speedo
How did you hear about oOple – It's world famous - who hasn't heard of these guys?
What do you like most about the Invernational – Sun, sand and the other thing err beer. Yes, beer. Great track and an awesome atmosphere.

Name – Robin Howett
Age - 37
Years racing experience - 23
Favourite Rudebits product – losi side pod kit
How did you hear about oOple - forum
What do you like most about the Invernational – The buzz

Qualifying Round 1
Highlight of 4WD round 1 was Euro Legend Hupo Honigl fixing young Laura hicklin's LRP Blast while she shouted at him from the rostrum.

In 2WD, Tom Cockerill lead the field with his Schumacher tyre'd Cougar SV ahead of Hupo's new Team Durango DEX210 car - which was wearing dBoots tyres. Tom had a 'coming together' with Adam Skelding (team orders?) and Tom required some marshalling assistance. Hupo danced off for the win.

Hupo took the first round of 2WD with his DEX210


	James Helliwell just missed out - and went 2nd

2WD Qualifying round 1

pos

name

1	Hupo honigl	13 - 381.624
2	James Helliwell	13 - 382.736
3	Danny McGee	13 - 389.334
4	Dan Greenwood	13 - 390.031
5	Tom Cockerill	12 - 358.868
6	Ashley Caunt	12 - 360.407
7	Nathan Waters	12 - 360.948
8	Eugene Galley	12 - 362.264
9	Colin May	12 - 365.426
10	Richard Coates	12 - 365.479

In the 4WD class saw Tom Cockerill take the win ahead of Hupo Honigl and was the only driver on 14 laps - clearly the 2WD mishap a few minutes earlier had spurred him on.

4WD Qualifying round 1

pos

name

1	Tom Cockerill	14 - 386.004
2	Hupo Honigl	13 - 364.338
3	Danny McGee	13 - 365.065
4	James Helliwell	13 - 367.387
5	Craig Collinson	13 - 368.157
6	Nathan Waters	13 - 370.248
7	Paul Robinson	13 - 375.988
8	Adam Skelding	13 - 377.646
9	Graham North	13 - 379.468
10	Wayne Collinson	13 - 379.906

"I drove like a bell-end" - Tom Cockerill in RD 2 of 2WD qualifying.

As is customary for many of our reporting antics, we set up an eating challenge for any willing participants. Todays selected treat was 'Pickled Wallnuts' - we've never purchased any of these before and have no idea why anyone would, but the malt-vinegary treat went down well with many strange sorts who tried them.

Andy Cottoms wife described the nutty madness as being comparable to eating a pickled kangaroo penis, although we can't say this is something we frequently consume.


We knew Bart would be game for any oOple madness...	Lovin' it... for sure!


Mrs Andy prefers pickled kangaroo Penis', but tried our walnuts all the same.	Stubbed toe? Forcing a trump? Indulging in a pickled walnut of course!


Kirky cried like a baby and required intimate comforting from Debz.	Keith was surely the biggest pickled walnut fan.

Qualifying Round 2

Round 2 qualiying 2WD

2WD Qualifying round 2

pos

name

1	Hupo Honigl	13 - 377.598
2	Craig Collinson	13 - 381.987
3	James Helliwell	13 - 382.602
4	Adam Skelding	13 - 383.001
5	Richard Lowe	13 - 383.168
6	Danny McGee	13 - 384.934
7	Dan Greenwood	13 - 388.296
8	Nathan Waters	12 - 364.780
9	Derek McCloskey	12 - 362.350
10	Eugene Galley	12 - 362.664

Round 2 qualifying 4wd.

4WD Qualifying round 2

pos

name

1	Danny McGee	13 - 362.569
2	Hupo Honigl	13 - 363.223
3	Craig Collinson	13 - 365.309
4	James Helliwell	13 - 366.200
5	Dan Greenwood	13 - 372.743
6	Nathan Waters	13 - 372.966
7	Adam Skelding	13 - 377.366
8	Graham North	13 - 378.822
9	Derek McCloskey	13 - 379.327
10	Charlie Ware	13 - 379.864

Lazy GOO

RClazy kindly donated us some very aromatic GOO to sample. We were informed that it was very dangerous and must only be used on electrics to seal them from external moisture. So naturally we did a skin sample test to ensure it was safe to use within the pits. The goo dried within minutes and formed a silky smooth second layer of skin upon our hands, it was particularly exciting peeling the substance off once it had fully dried.

This product is strictly only for use on r/c products and mustn't be used as lubrication, as a cooking agent, or for skin protection.

Hupo took another round of 2WD with Schumacher's Danny McGee a second back in 2nd and Richard Lowe with the Centro C4.1 finishing 3rd.

2WD Qualifying round 3

pos

name

result

1	Hupo Honigl	13 - 375.195
2	Danny McGee	13 - 376.213
3	Richard Lowe	13 - 377.334
4	Ashley Caunt	13 - 379.104
5	Nathan Waters	13 - 383.665
6	Richard Coates	13 - 388.580
7	Eugene Galley	12 - 362.138
8	James Helliwell	12 - 362.702
9	Derek McCloskey	12 - 363.047
10	Dan Greenwood	12 - 364.053

4WD Qualifying round 3

pos

name

result

1	Tom Cockerill	13 - 363.031
2	Craig Collinson	13 - 367.161
3	Nathan Waters	13 - 367.295
4	Hupo Honigl	13 - 367.777
5	James Helliwell	13 - 371.198
6	Wayne Collinson	13 - 376.791
7	Paul Robinson	13 - 377.558
8	Dan Greenwood	13 - 380.340
9	Richard Coates	13 - 380.510
10	Oz Gurnell	13 - 382.017

Hupo Hönigl sealed up a perfect day of qualifying - taking all four rounds of qualifying and looking pretty dangerous with his new buggy. Craig Collinson managed another 2nd in round but with earlier poor results would still have to work hard in the final round of qualifying on Sunday morning to make the A final.

Last years 2WD oOple Invernational winner Tom Cockerill wasn't feeling it and languished down in 10th in round but seemed pretty confident.

2WD Qualifying round 4

pos

name

result

1	Hupo Hönigl	13/ 377.992
2	Craig Collinson	13/ 380.451
3	Richard Lowe	13/ 380.861
4	Nathan Waters	13/ 383.001
5	Danny Mcgee	13/ 385.028
6	Ashley Caunt	13/ 385.917
7	James Helliwell	13/ 386.608
8	Dan Greenwood	13/ 389.231
9	Adam Skelding	13/ 395.231
10	Tom Cockerill	12/ 362.032


Leon uses his CAT shock tower to open some beer.	Hupo in action

Whilst Tom's head wasn't 'in' 2WD mode he sealed up the TQ in round 4 - having already taken rounds 1 & 3 for a 'perfect' and unbeatable score for the overall TQ. Danny McGee made it a Schumacher SX3 1-2 in round. It was all very close at the top however with less than a second seperating 2nd-5th place!

4WD Qualifying round 4

pos

name

result

1	Tom Cockerill	13/ 362.265
2	Danny Mcgee	13/ 363.309
3	Craig Collinson	13/ 363.841
4	Hupo Hönigl	13/ 363.855
5	James Helliwell	13/ 363.961
6	Nathan Waters	13/ 368.200
7	Adam Skelding	13/ 372.351
8	Dan Greenwood	13/ 372.605
9	Richard Coates	13/ 377.951
10	Chris Bowater	13/ 378.391

Durango DEX210R

Team Durango brought their stunning new DEX210 2WD buggy to the oOple Invernational 2011 for its world debut - a pretty big honour we'll admit. Speaking to the designer Adam Skelding - the car didn't make it to the World Championships the week prior because it simply wasn't ready in time. A week might not sound much but we're told the decision was made a couple of weeks before the event when it was clear the team wouldn't have any time to drive the cars before the event and they'd quite literally be testing the car and trying to find setups at the Worlds - not ideal!

Craig Collinson shows people round the new car

So whilst the team raced the DEX210 prototype - a quite different beast - at the World champs, the production version of the DEX210 we see here was being tested by Team Durango to get it ready for its debut at the oOple.

The new car isn't like any other 2WD - but it's also pretty similar to a lot of them. Hmmmm. With a rear and mid motor layout it's capable of being setup for low and high traction surfaces. There's also the option to run 3 or 4 gears - all within the same gearbox somehow with a turnaround time of around 10 minutes if you're not really rushing we're told.

The team brought 4 cars in all, in the hands of Hupo, Adam Skelding, Nathan Waters and Craig Collinson. The cars were as you'd expect on a high traction astroturf track all arrange in the mid-motor layout and with the motor facing to the left they were all running 4-gear.

The bodyshell on the DEX210 is usable on all possibly layouts and uses a seperate rear body to cover the back end of the car - with different 'cowlings' to allow the different motor positions.

The DEX210 comes with the new Team Durango 'big bores' and there's some welcome droop screws on both ends of the car so you don't have to put spacers in the dampers to adjust droop. None of the cars were running anti-roll bars but there's provision to fit them front and rear.

The driveshafts have very little plunge which should help bump handling. The CVD joint itself extends out into the hub and the large diameter bearing captures the pin without using a set screw - similar to the setup on the Team Durango DESC410R short course truck.


Driveshaft CVD pins are captured.	angled front suspension arms

The chassis on the 210 looks to gain some stiffness from the sturdy moulded side pods which hold the electrics in a conventional 2WD style. Even in mid-motor layout there's enough room for a standard long stick-pack down the centre of the car.

Alloy chassis plate with frotn weight 'blank' and plastic side pods.


Front droop screws	Front bulkhead braces against the sides of the chassis

The rear of the car uses a kinked / offset camber link with the long 'lowered' ball cup from the new 410 ball cup parts used to allow the link to clear the shocks / gearbox etc when used in mid-rear layouts.

The slipper adjustment is on the opposite side to the actual slipper parts - which we're told is because the motor is more central than on other cars.


'Kinked' rear camber link	Uncovered rear mid layout - slipper setting opposite

The super low body still has decent room for electrics but messy motor wires might be a problem if you're a bit naff at wiring - we'll have to see. The body looks great to me but with it's very definite and decisive lines there were a couple of people who weren't fans - maybe they were cab-forward fans?

The front wheels use bearings in the wheels but there's a good reason since you can adjust the alloy front axles in 4 positions between in-line and 4mm trailing for different steering characteristics.

'Kinked' rear camber link

In terms of length the car looks like it's similar to more traditional 2WD buggies than the extremely long Losi 22 or Long-B4.1 that was used at the Worlds.

After the qualifying was done for the day there was a brief delay before the hilight of the meeting - the world famous (?) BEER RACE. Last years event being a bit of a last minute 'made up' bodge, this year the guys really thought about it and organised things properly. Lessons learnt - on with the show!

The format for this years beer race was to be a secret shared between a few hardened conspirators - such was the complexity and downright deviousness of it all.

First - all competitors would have to sign up and agree that the organisers could abuse them as they see fit, as this would be an important part of the race at the end. The competitors would also have to confirm their chosen 'fancy dress' costume that they'd have to compete in - some quite interesting & funny, some vaguely erotic.

Some of the fancy dress warriors line up

lol

Arab Sheik, Army dude, Transvestite Leprecaun, Standard Leprecaun, Shrek, Racing driver x2, Baby tiger, Crocodile, Pikey, Robin Hood, Tart - and maybe some others we forgot to mention. A varied mix of maniacs lined up to compete.

Unlike the previous years event this would be a 3-leg race with a pint of beer 'practice' being chased by a vodka 'qualifier' before the final leg which would be another pint of beer - and as soon as you'd finished that beer, and proven the fact by placing the empty plastic cup upon your head, you could set off.


Some things are best left unseen.	Shane (army man) Foot wanted to be first. REALLY.

The crowd were loving it.

The final leg begins - Shrek looks to be in the lead to me!


Shrek looked to be off first but others not far behind	Pikey leads!


Paul Robinson quickly took a big lead so Danny McGee caught his car and ran off with it.	YERrrrrrrrr JAWKING!


Santa ran amok during the racing several times to try and throw in an extra element.	Use the blarney stone!

You'll have to watch one of the videos from the beer race - I can't do it justice with a few words, it was simply hilarious!

The 'winners' were guided over to the podium to receive their special prize. A decoy packet of instamt mashed potato was laying atop the #1 position - as if the 'dash for mash' would be that easy, oh no.

The top three took their positions and as they posed for photos the winner Mark 'Pukey' Dyson wondered why people took his transmitter and car from him...... Ah - a few cans of beer thrown over him - is that all you've got? he must have thought.

Dash for MASH really is what it says on the tin as the winners get their mashed potato lovelyness - all over their heads.

With the beer race done there was a gap in the festivities to allow people to get food at the hog roast and have a few drinks - which also allowed the sun to dip in the skies a little which meant it was time for the customary flaming hoop of death!


Electric losi 8th 5s buggy was insanely fast!	Yes, there's fire inside Leon's car


Jumping a car through a flaming hoop isn't dangerous enough so the guys decided to set some of the willing participants cars on fire BEFORE setting off!


Hupo, kidnapped by James Ambrosia	Ambrose caught a Shrek this time!

The party kicked off with some tunes from DJ Kirky before the live band - Hitomi - got underway. The atmosphere around the whole site was great with the hog roast and beer being served outside, people still lapping the track and all sorts of insanity still kicking of all over the place.

The 4WD A final positions were still up for grabs in the last qualifier of the weekend - Rich Coates was 'in' as he lead Graham North but a last lap push by Graham saw him punt Coates out of the A and propel himself up there instead.

Day 3 - Qualifying and Finals.

Round 5 of qualifying started the days proceedings, The deciding round which would see the top 12 drivers in each class confirmed for A final particiapation. There were a few sore heads from the night before and the early start didn't agree with some - but expert racer Leon Morell put in his best time of the weekend in the morning after the night before so clearly it didn't matter with Leon's skill level.

2WD Qualifying round 5

pos

name

result

1	Tom Cockerill	13/ 377.629
2	Nathan Waters	13/ 378.351
3	Hupo Hönigl	13/ 380.585
4	Craig Collinson	13/ 380.615
5	Ashley Caunt	13/ 383.590
6	Richard Lowe	13/ 386.204
7	James Helliwell	13/ 386.713
8	Eugene Galley	13/ 389.001
9	Greg Williams	12/ 362.768
10	Danny Mcgee	12/ 362.851

4WD Qualifying round 5

pos

name

result

1	Hupo Honigl	14/ 382.692
2	Tom Cockerill	14/ 387.622
3	Craig Collinson	13/ 360.219
4	James Helliwell	13/ 360.548
5	Nathan Waters	13/ 367.455
6	Adam Skelding	13/ 370.227
7	Dan Greenwood	13/ 370.299
8	Chris Bowater	13/ 373.131
9	Steve Pierce	13/ 373.339
10	Colin May	13/ 373.420

After qualifying had ended, a brief interlude enabled us to hold the free raffle prize give away, and thanks to the supreme generosity of our many supporters this took longer than we expected. An awesome arrangement of car kits, transmitters, cells, motors, certificates and many accessories saw around half of drivers in attendence take home some goodies. So a huge thanks to everyone who has supported us in making this the fun event that it has turned out to be.


	I wanted that one.

Hold on, what!?!	Sexy pose


It was ME who was green with envy.	Winner!

With all the serious business happening on the track, we decided to run a different kind of qualifying in the pits - of course, a monster munch contest! The kindly Irish lads very willingly agreed to down a bowl of monster munch each. There were only 25 of the corn based tasty treats in each bowl - an easy feat one might think. However when placed under pressure our friends from the land of clovers and guiness struggled to perform. Still, we're pretty convinced they had a good laugh.


The Irish boys line up and pose with their monster munch	It all started well and the munchypuffs were disappering at a moderate rate.


Dude in the flamin' hot bowl thought he was being beaten...	So sneaked some of his tasty treats into pickled onion dudes bowl... like he wouldn't notice!


Suddenly there were puffs everywhere and no-one really knew who was winning...	So we just had to make it up, and credited the guy who'd been well behaved throughout the contest.

Actually... although at oOple we think that Monster Munch are really made from Jesus' very own toenail clippings, it doesn't seem that the Irish crowd were that into them, and soon tired of their three course monster munch delight. In the meantime though, interest had been shown by onlookers who themselves wanted to join in with a challenge. Onto the micro-cookie race it was.


Kid-dad, JonnyGib, and Kid showed much more excitement about their impending challenge.	The grown ups tucked in straight away, but Kid was way too excited and nearly inhaled his cookies.


And took to posing for photos instead...	Even trying to remove his own head in the midst of the excitement.


Meanwhile JohnnyGib nearly gips	And takes the prize for most enthusuastic contender

Overall qualifying:

2WD Overall Qualifying - Top 20

pos

name

Score

1	Hupo Hönigl	3 [(1) 1 1 1 (3)]
2	Craig Collinson	8 [(78) 2 (67) 2 4]
3	Danny Mcgee	10 [3 (6) 2 5 (10)]
4	Richard Lowe	11 [(12) 5 3 3 (6)]
5	Nathan Waters	11 [(7) (11) 5 4 2]
6	James Helliwell	12 [2 3 (8) 7 (7)]
7	Ashley Caunt	15 [(6) (10) 4 6 5]
8	Tom Cockerill	16 [5 (19) (72) 10 1]
9	Dan Greenwood	19 [4 7 (10) 8 (16)]
10	Eugene Galley	23 [8 (9) 7 (78) 8]
11	Adam Skelding	28 [15 4 (34) 9 (18)]
12	Richard Coates	29 [10 (20) 6 (75) 13]
13	Derek Mccloskey	31 [14 8 9 (18) (17)]
14	Colin May	33 [9 (18) 12 12 (12)]
15	Greg Williams	33 [11 (13) 13 (14) 9]
16	James Mcfadyean	36 [(16) 14 (14) 11 11]
17	Chris Bowater	39 [(17) (36) 11 13 15]
18	Nick Caro	50 [19 15 16 (66) (20)]
19	Nicolas Risser	53 [13 (22) (35) 19 21]
20	Craig Mawson	54 [18 16 (24) 20 (25)]

4WD Overall Qualifying - Top 20

pos

name

Score

1	Tom Cockerill	3 [1 (50) 1 1 (2)]
2	Hupo Hönigl	5 [2 2 (4) (4) 1]
3	Danny Mcgee	6 [3 1 (84) 2 (76)]
4	Craig Collinson	8 [(5) (3) 2 3 3]
5	James Helliwell	12 [4 4 (5) (5) 4]
6	Nathan Waters	14 [(6) (6) 3 6 5]
7	Adam Skelding	20 [(8) 7 (26) 7 6]
8	Dan Greenwood	20 [(48) 5 (8) 8 7]
9	Paul Robinson	25 [7 (16) 7 (15) 11]
10	Wayne Collinson	27 [10 (11) 6 11 (12)]
11	Graham North	30 [9 8 (19) (80) 13]
12	Chris Bowater	30 [(82) (87) 12 10 8]
13	Richard Coates	31 [(25) 13 9 9 (14)]
14	Oz Gurnell	35 [12 (19) 10 13 (18)]
15	Rob Fox	38 [(16) 15 11 12 (17)]
16	Damian Whittle	40 [13 14 13 (18) (19)]
17	Colin May	41 [(19) (59) 15 16 10]
18	Derek Mccloskey	44 [(20) 9 16 19 (74)]
19	Andrew Jones	44 [(28) 12 18 14 (45)]
20	Nick Caro	45 [14 (79) 14 17 (21)]

Finals!

2wd A final Leg 1
The first A final of the day was delayed due to a popped ballstud from Craig Collinson, however this was soon resolved and things were on the move.
Off the grid and it was McGee and Lowe who became entangled, followed by a Skelding flavoured roll.
Dan Greenwood moved up a spot after James Helliwell rolled, whilst up front Craig Collinson homed in on Hupo as he rode a pipe.
Meanwhile Ashley Caunt had moved up to 3rd place and was pushing hard to catch up to the leaders, the top three were soon driving together whilst Dan Greenwood was out on his own in 4th place.
The top 3 cars made it through for the extra lap, and although Ashley and Craig were pushing hard, they both made errors and it was Hupo who took the first leg win.

2wd A final Leg 1

pos

qual

name

result

1	1	Hupo Hönigl	13/ 385.306
2	2	Craig Collinson	13/ 387.235
3	7	Ashley Caunt	13/ 394.352
4	9	Dan Greenwood	12/ 362.846
5	6	James Helliwell	12/ 367.176
6	3	Danny Mcgee	12/ 370.233
7	8	Tom Cockerill	12/ 370.536
8	4	Richard Lowe	12/ 373.118
9	11	Adam Skelding	12/ 376.027
10	12	Richard Coates	12/ 376.239
11	10	Eugene Galley	12/ 381.805
12	5	Nathan Waters	8/ 253.053

4wd A final Leg 1
Northy hopped up to 8th place from 11th on the grid during lap1, and by two laps in Cockerill had already built up a 3 second lead. Skelding lost time on a track marker.
At the two minute mark, the race order was Tom Cockerill, Hupo Honigl and James Helliwell. Hupo put in a 27.0second lap.
At three minutes in Tom Cockerill put in a 26.8second lap and had a 4 second gap back to Hupo. Graham North took an early retirement. Tom had spannered his lead to 8 seconds by 4 minutes 30 sec, and Helliwell was less than one second off former European Champion Hupo.
Hupo Honigl and James Helliwell had a fight to the line, and in the battle Tom pulled even further ahead to win the leg by over ten seconds, and was the only driver to put in 14 laps.

4wd A final Leg 1

pos

qual

name

result

1	1	Tom Cockerill	14/ 386.884
2	2	Hupo Hönigl	13/ 369.691
3	5	James Helliwell	13/ 370.292
4	4	Craig Collinson	13/ 376.337
5	6	Nathan Waters	13/ 380.212
6	3	Danny Mcgee	13/ 382.102
7	8	Dan Greenwood	13/ 388.297
8	7	Adam Skelding	12/ 363.249
9	9	Paul Robinson	12/ 365.689
10	10	Wayne Collinson	12/ 381.032
11	11	Graham North	7/ 217.423
12	12	Chris Bowater	2/ 69.406

2wd A final Leg 2
As Hupo lead them all off, Craig Collinson wheelied off the line. Danny McGee rolled (just a standard roll).
It was Hupo Honigl, Craig Collinson, Richard lowe - with Ashley Caunt and James Helliwell fighting it out on the track for 4th place. Ashley had the superior speed and it was only a matter of time before he passed James.
By half race distance, Hupo had just under a 2 second gap back to Craig Collinson in 2nd place. Ashley Caunt passed Richard Lowe to take 3rd place.
Hupo up in the top spot made a mistake, allowing Craig Collinson to close in, and it the mayhem Ashley Caunt closed the gap up to Craig Collinson.

Craig Collinson looked for any way past Hupo as they completed their last lap, but didn’t make a move - the pair crossed the line side by side, and Hupo took the 2wd win of the oOple Invernational 2011 by 2/10ths of a second.

2wd A final Leg 2

pos

qual

name

result

1	1	Hupo Hönigl	13/ 381.220
2	2	Craig Collinson	13/ 381.436
3	7	Ashley Caunt	13/ 383.469
4	4	Richard Lowe	13/ 392.810
5	6	James Helliwell	12/ 366.733
6	8	Tom Cockerill	12/ 369.440
7	11	Adam Skelding	12/ 369.913
8	9	Dan Greenwood	12/ 371.119
9	3	Danny Mcgee	12/ 375.204
10	5	Nathan Waters	12/ 378.711
11	12	Richard Coates	12/ 379.855
12	10	Eugene Galley	7/ 231.780

4wd A final Leg 2
It was a clean start for all the top drivers here at the oOple invernational 2011, Tom Cockerill was looking to do the same as Hupo had just done in 2wd - take the title with one race left to run. Tom Cockerill and Hupo Honigl raced together at the front with a short gap back to Danny McGee in 3rd. Tom put in the fastest laps, and pulled a small gap. Hupo got caught on a pipe, and Danny McGee caught up. Tom put in the fastest lap of the ENTIRE WEEKEND, with a 26.6second super lap.
Hupo managed to stretch out a gap of 2 seconds back to Danny McGee in 3rd place. Hupo bettered Tom Cockerills fastest lap of the weekend, with a 26.3. Hupo’s car cut for a second as his transmitter and receiver ‘un-bound’, this allowed Danny McGee through to second.
Hupo wasn’t done though, and closed back in on Danny McGee. He was half a second down on the last lap.
Tom was again the only car through on 14 laps, taking the 4wd win at the oOple invernational 2011.

4wd A final Leg 2

pos

qual

name

result

1	1	Tom Cockerill	14/ 387.428
2	3	Danny Mcgee	13/ 367.897
3	2	Hupo Hönigl	13/ 368.307
4	4	Craig Collinson	13/ 371.427
5	6	Nathan Waters	13/ 376.878
6	7	Adam Skelding	13/ 377.454
7	5	James Helliwell	13/ 378.181
8	8	Dan Greenwood	13/ 383.254
9	9	Paul Robinson	13/ 386.698
10	11	Graham North	13/ 386.837
11	12	Chris Bowater	12/ 360.781
12	10	Wayne Collinson	12/ 364.373

2wd A final Leg 3
At the start, Danny McGee passed Craig Collinson, Ashley Caunt passed James Helliwell AND Craig Collinson. By one minute it was Hupo, McGee, Ashley Caunt, and a short gap back to Collinson in 4th place - but Hupo up front was pulling away.
Ashley Caunt found a bobble on the track, and Collinson was right behind looking for a pass. Hupo clipped a marker and Danny McGee was right on him, Danny made a move but it didn’t pay off and he dropped back slightly. Hupo and Danny McGee both made it through for the extra lap, but it wasn’t enough for Danny and Hupo took the 3rd leg win, making it a perfect 3 from 3 for Hupo with the brand new Durango DEX210.

2wd A final Leg 3

pos

qual

name

result

1	1	Hupo Hönigl	13/ 383.633
2	3	Danny Mcgee	13/ 385.386
3	2	Craig Collinson	12/ 360.724
4	7	Ashley Caunt	12/ 363.232
5	6	James Helliwell	12/ 366.919
6	4	Richard Lowe	12/ 374.691
7	5	Nathan Waters	12/ 375.315
8	9	Dan Greenwood	12/ 381.910
9	11	Adam Skelding	12/ 387.424
10	10	Eugene Galley	12/ 388.376
11	8	Tom Cockerill	11/ 361.433
12	12	Richard Coates	11/ 364.354

4wd A final Leg 3
Almost a clean start - Tom and Hupo broke away. Tom had a bobble, but held his position ahead of James Helliwell in 3rd.
The front pair were well matched on pace, but a mistake from Tom allowed Hupo past. The rain which had held off all weekend started to fall, on this, the very last run of the weekend. Tom rolled, and Hupo now had a 4 second lead - which he held to the line to take the 3rd leg win.

4wd A final Leg 3

pos

qual

name

result

1	2	Hupo Hönigl	13/ 363.649
2	1	Tom Cockerill	13/ 366.389
3	5	James Helliwell	13/ 372.655
4	6	Nathan Waters	13/ 377.058
5	7	Adam Skelding	13/ 381.316
6	4	Craig Collinson	13/ 382.070
7	8	Dan Greenwood	13/ 389.435
8	12	Chris Bowater	12/ 362.771
9	11	Graham North	12/ 363.209
10	3	Danny Mcgee	12/ 368.442
11	9	Paul Robinson	12/ 371.367
12	10	Wayne Collinson	12/ 371.586

That's a lot of racing madness isn't it? Before the day was finished we had to sneak in one final eating challenge, and we knew that the RClazy guys would be up for anything - so suggested the cracker eating race. We didn't really establish any rules before starting, but rumour had it you can only possibly eat two cream crackers without having a drink... so just to be safe we lined up 5 each and decided the first person to finish all 5 crackers would be the winner.


The race commences...	Crabb-balls loves the crackers but can't quite keep up with his racemates.


Gangsta-Vik - FOUR	Winner! And the prize is... Crackers!

Overall A Final Results.

Overall 2wd A Final Results

pos

car

name

result

1	1	Hupo Hönigl	2 [ 1 1 1]
2	2	Craig Collinson	4 [ 2 2 3]
3	7	Ashley Caunt	6 [ 3 3 4]
4	3	Danny Mcgee	8 [ 6 9 2]
5	4	Richard Lowe	10 [ 8 4 6]
6	6	James Helliwell	10 [ 5 5 5]
7	9	Dan Greenwood	12 [ 4 8 8]
8	8	Tom Cockerill	13 [ 7 6 11]
9	11	Adam Skelding	16 [ 9 7 9]
10	5	Nathan Waters	17 [ 12 10 7]
11	10	Eugene Galley	21 [ 11 12 10]
12	12	Richard Coates	21 [ 10 11 12]

Overall 4wd A Final Results

pos

car

name

result

1	1	Tom Cockerill	2 [ 1 1 2]
2	2	Hupo Hönigl	3 [ 2 3 1]
3	5	James Helliwell	6 [ 3 7 3]
4	3	Danny Mcgee	8 [ 6 2 10]
5	4	Craig Collinson	8 [ 4 4 6]
6	6	Nathan Waters	9 [ 5 5 4]
7	7	Adam Skelding	11 [ 8 6 5]
8	8	Dan Greenwood	14 [ 7 8 7]
9	9	Paul Robinson	18 [ 9 9 11]
10	11	Graham North	19 [ 11 10 9]
11	12	Chris Bowater	19 [ 12 11 8]
12	10	Wayne Collinson	22 [ 10 12 12]

2WD Results

B. Final (2wd) Overall Result from 3 Legs

Pos	Car	Name	Result
1	2	Colin May	2 [ 1 4 1]
2	3	Greg Williams	3 [ 2 1 11]
3	5	Chris Bowater	5 [ 7 3 2]
4	8	Craig Mawson	7 [ 10 2 5]
5	1	Derek Mccloskey	8 [ 3 5 10]
6	6	Nick Caro	11 [ 4 7 9]
7	4	James Mcfadyean	12 [ 9 11 3]
8	12	Rob Fox	12 [ 6 6 7]
9	7	Nicolas Risser	13 [ 11 9 4]
10	11	Jason Knight	13 [ 5 8 8]
11	10	Nick Gurnell	14 [ 8 10 6]
12	9	Peter Craig	24 [ 12 12 12]

C. Final (2wd) Overall Result from 3 Legs

Pos	Car	Name	Result
1	10	Jim Dixon	2 [ 5 1 1]
2	2	Nick Cox	4 [ 1 3 3]
3	3	Anthony Potter	7 [ 2 6 5]
4	11	Andy Pearson	8 [ 4 4 4]
5	5	Olly Vaux	9 [ 11 7 2]
6	8	Gareth Stanton	9 [ 3 8 6]
7	1	Peter Watson	10 [ 12 2 8]
8	9	Brian Shardlow	12 [ 7 5 7]
9	4	James Wilkinson	15 [ 6 12 9]
10	12	Paul Crawford	17 [ 8 9 10]
11	6	Ian Ward	20 [ 10 10 12]
12	7	Andy Cottom	20 [ 9 11 11]

D. Final (2wd) Overall Result from 3 Legs

Pos	Car	Name	Result
1	4	Mark Smith	2 [ 1 2 1]
2	1	Chris Sutcliffe	3 [ 6 1 2]
3	5	Graeme Hunter	5 [ 2 3 4]
4	3	Russell Wynn-Smith	8 [ 4 4 7]
5	8	Robin Howett	11 [ 5 9 6]
6	9	Ashley Williams	11 [ 8 8 3]
7	10	Dj Kirky	12 [ 10 7 5]
8	2	Gary Waller	13 [ 7 6 8]
9	7	Simon Smith	14 [ 3 11 11]
10	11	Lee Fraser	15 [ 11 5 10]
11	12	Leon Morell	18 [ 9 12 9]
12	6	Colin Whelan	22 [ 12 10 12]

E. Final (2wd) Overall Result from 3 Legs

Pos	Car	Name	Result
1	1	Robin Calvert	2 [ 1 2 1]
2	10	Brian Preddy	3 [ 5 1 2]
3	3	Wayne Wilson	5 [ 2 3 7]
4	8	Jamie Paton	9 [ 4 5 10]
5	4	Terry Atkinson	10 [ 7 11 3]
6	5	Michael Bradbury	11 [ 3 8 9]
7	6	Stephen Adams	11 [ 8 7 4]
8	9	Me	12 [ 10 4 8]
9	11	Mark Dyson	12 [ 6 9 6]
10	7	Ian Hunter	15 [ 11 10 5]
11	12	Christopher Robinson	15 [ 9 6 11]
12	2	Andrew Ryan	24 [ 12 12 12]

F. Final (2wd) Overall Result from 3 Legs

Pos	Car	Name	Result
1	2	Matt Haskell	3 [ 2 2 1]
2	6	James Burgess	3 [ 1 3 2]
3	1	Andy Lodwick	4 [ 4 1 3]
4	3	Eric Wilcock	7 [ 3 4 11]
5	10	Dale Richardson	9 [ 10 5 4]
6	4	Russell Woodhouse	11 [ 5 8 6]
7	8	Stevie Dow	11 [ 9 6 5]
8	7	Michael Dunn	14 [ 7 7 7]
9	5	Nick Baker	15 [ 6 9 10]
10	11	Liam Watt	18 [ 8 10 12]
11	9	Jeffstanton	19 [ 11 12 8]
12	12	Stuart Learmonth	20 [ 12 11 9]

G. Final (2wd) Overall Result from 3 Legs

Pos	Car	Name	Result
1	2	Eddie Burton	2 [ 1 2 1]
2	4	Daniel Critchley	4 [ 4 1 3]
3	3	Ellan Hicklin	6 [ 3 3 5]
4	1	Kieran Cox	7 [ 6 5 2]
5	5	Derek Wilson	8 [ 5 4 4]
6	6	Chelsea Wilson	8 [ 2 6 6]

4WD Results

B. Final (4wd) Overall Result from 3 Legs

Pos	Car	Name	Result
1	1	Richard Coates	2 [ 1 1 2]
2	4	Damian Whittle	4 [ 4 3 1]
3	7	Andrew Jones	6 [ 8 2 4]
4	5	Colin May	7 [ 3 4 12]
5	2	Oz Gurnell	8 [ 2 6 7]
6	3	Rob Fox	10 [ 11 7 3]
7	8	Nick Caro	10 [ 5 10 5]
8	10	James Ambrose	13 [ 7 12 6]
9	6	Derek Mccloskey	14 [ 6 8 8]
10	12	Bart van echelpoel	15 [ 10 5 10]
11	9	Charlie Ware	18 [ 9 9 9]
12	11	Brian Preddy	22 [ 12 11 11]

C. Final (4wd) Overall Result from 3 Legs

Pos	Car	Name	Result
1	1	Mike Parker	2 [ 3 1 1]
2	5	Sean Lawton	3 [ 1 2 2]
3	3	Ross Irwin	5 [ 2 3 5]
4	7	Craig Mawson	9 [ 9 5 4]
5	2	Stu Hurley	10 [ 7 12 3]
6	4	Stephen Adams	11 [ 8 4 7]
7	9	Peter Watson	11 [ 4 7 9]
8	11	Andrew Rochell	11 [ 5 10 6]
9	8	Andy Wesson	12 [ 6 6 11]
10	10	Graeme Hunter	17 [ 11 9 8]
11	12	Mark Jarvis	18 [ 10 8 10]
12	6	Nicolas Risser	23 [ 12 11 12]

D. Final (4wd) Overall Result from 3 Legs

Pos	Car	Name	Result
1	4	Brian Shardlow	2 [ 1 5 1]
2	5	Mark Townsend	4 [ 2 4 2]
3	2	David Smith	5 [ 3 2 11]
4	7	Jason Birch	7 [ 6 1 8]
5	1	Emily Shields	8 [ 11 3 5]
6	6	Craig Mead	9 [ 5 9 4]
7	11	Andrew Shillito	10 [ 4 6 10]
8	10	Phil Campbell	13 [ 10 10 3]
9	8	Andy Cottom	14 [ 8 7 7]
10	9	Dj Kirky	14 [ 9 8 6]
11	12	Nicholas Gordon	18 [ 7 11 12]
12	3	Gareth J Hollis	21 [ 12 12 9]

E. Final (4wd) Overall Result from 3 Legs

Pos	Car	Name	Result
1	1	James Wilkinson	2 [ 1 2 1]
2	3	Mark Gillies	3 [ 9 1 2]
3	8	Rik Stiles	6 [ 3 8 3]
4	5	Andrew Hicklin	7 [ 2 5 8]
5	2	Andrew Bulmer	8 [ 4 4 4]
6	9	Leon Morell	8 [ 5 3 9]
7	7	Matthew Bateson	11 [ 11 6 5]
8	6	Mike Pimlott	12 [ 6 7 6]
9	11	Simon Major	14 [ 7 9 7]
10	10	David Mckeown	18 [ 8 12 10]
11	12	Raymond Kerr	20 [ 10 10 11]
12	4	Jamie Thomas	23 [ 12 11 12]

F. Final (4wd) Overall Result from 3 Legs

Pos	Car	Name	Result
1	1	Steve Pierce	2 [ 1 1 1]
2	10	Steve Axon	6 [ 3 4 3]
3	9	Ian Hunter	7 [ 6 5 2]
4	11	Steve Cockerell	8 [ 8 2 6]
5	3	James Garner	9 [ 4 10 5]
6	4	Michael Bradbury	9 [ 5 11 4]
7	2	Graham Smith	10 [ 2 12 8]
8	7	Chris Reardon	10 [ 7 3 10]
9	12	Natalie Williams	13 [ 10 6 7]
10	6	John Jones	17 [ 11 8 9]
11	5	Jamie Cheshire	18 [ 9 9 12]
12	8	Gareth Stanton	19 [ 12 7 12]

G. Final (4wd) Overall Result from 3 Legs

Pos	Car	Name	Result
1	2	David Andrew Bell	2 [ 1 3 1]
2	3	Rob Carlin	4 [ 12 2 2]
3	4	Simon Crabb	4 [ 8 1 3]
4	7	Simon Cox	6 [ 2 7 4]
5	5	Scott Meichan	8 [ 3 5 5]
6	1	David Hannah	9 [ 5 4 8]
7	6	Martin Evans	10 [ 4 6 7]
8	8	James Alford	15 [ 9 12 6]
9	11	John Nolan	16 [ 7 9 11]
10	9	Rob Mclaurin	17 [ 11 8 9]
11	10	Iris Nelis	17 [ 6 11 12]
12	12	Mark	20 [ 10 10 10]

H. Final (4wd) Overall Result from 3 Legs

Pos	Car	Name	Result
1	2	Nick Sands	2 [ 1 1 2]
2	1	Ian Hughes	3 [ 2 2 1]
3	3	Laura Hicklin	6 [ 3 3 3]

After all the racing action was finished for the day, the lads in red tshirts gathered on the track to celebrate what had been an awesomely fun weekend. And what better way to celebrate than to practice the modern day art of... planking, on the track.


All lined up on the grid and ready for the start tone...	Pile-up coming through the bOmbhole!


Anything that Stu Evans does - don't try to mimic.	Banked corner warrior.


Northy tries a different style of planking.	Baby-hood, not planking.

We'd like to thank EVERYONE who helped us to organise the oOple Invernational 2011, it certainly requires a dedicated team effort to put together an event of such magnitude. One might not think a 3 day event takes much planning, but these guys worked tirelessly for months to ensure all the finite details were considered and covered. Especially in the days and weeks running up to the event, ensuring we had a top class track and venue to race at. Huge thanks again to everyone. The guys in RED, and those behind the scenes who helped everything come together :)

Thanks also for everyone who applied to race at this years event, for turning up and having a great time, and contributing towards the fun and friendly atmosphere. For those racers who didn't manage to get an entry this time around, there are already murmurings about a reinstallment of the Invernational next year... so watch this space